Jose Rizal’s patriotism is shown in
this poem where he urge his fellowmen to
strive and work for their country whether in
war or in peace. Shortly before Rizal left
Calamba in 1888, his friend from Lipa
requested him to write a poem in
commemoration of the town's elevation to a
city by virtue of the Becerra Law of 1888.
Gladly, he wrote a poem dedicated to the
industrious folks of Lipa.
Chorus:
For the Motherland in war,
For the Motherland in peace,
Will the Filipino keep watch,
He will live until life will cease!
MEN:
Now the East is glowing with light,
Go! To the field to till the land,
For the labour of man sustains
Fam’ly, home and Motherland.
Hard the land may turn to be,
Scorching the rays of the sun above…
For the country, wife and children
All will be easy to our love.
Chorus:
WIVES:
Go to work with spirits high,
For the wife keeps home faithfully,
Inculcates love in her children
For virtue, knowledge and country.
When the evening brings repose,
On returning joy awaits you,
And if fate is adverse, the wife,
Shall know the task to continue.
Chorus:
MAIDENS:
H ail! Hail! Praise to labour,
Of the country wealth and vigor!
For it brow serene’s exalted,
It’s her blood, life, and ardor.
If some youth would show his love
Labor his faith will sustain :
Only a man who struggles and works
Will his offspring know to maintain.
Chorus:
CHILDREN: Teach, us ye the laborious work
To pursue your footsteps we wish,
For tomorrow when country calls us
We may be able your task to finish.
And on seeing us the elders will say:
‘Look, they’re worthy ‘f their sires of yore!’
Incense does not honor the dead
As does a son with glory and valor.
To My Muse by Jose Rizal
The following are part of a series of nineteen
verses published in La Solidaridad  for which
Jose Rizal used his favorite pen name of Laong
Laan:
To my Muse
Invoked no longer is the Muse,
The lyre is out of date;
The poets it no longer use,
And youth its inspiration now imbues
With other form and state.
If today our fancies aught
Of verse would still require,
Helicon’s hill remains unsought;
And without heed we but inquire,
Why the coffee is not brought.
In the place of thought sincere
That our hearts may feel,
We must seize a pen of steel,
And with verse and line severe
Fling abroad a jest and jeer.
Muse, that in the past inspired me,
And with songs of love hast fired me;
Go thou now to dull repose,
For today in sordid prose
I must earn the gold that hired me.
Now must I ponder deep,
Meditate, and struggle on;
E’en sometimes I must weep;
For he who love would keep
Great pain has undergone.
Fled are the days of ease,
The days of Love’s delight;
When flowers still would please
And give to suffering souls surcease
From pain and sorrow’s blight.
One by one they have passed on,
All I loved and moved among;
Dead or married—from me gone,
For all I place my heart upon
By fate adverse are stung.
Go thou, too, O Muse, depart,
Other regions fairer find;
For my land but offers art
For the laurel, chains that bind,
For a temple, prisons blind.
But before thou leavest me, speak:
Tell me with thy voice sublime,
Thou couldst ever from me seek
A song of sorrow for the weak,
Defiance to the tyrant’s crime.
Questions , Choose 2 questions out of 3.
1. What is Rizal’s thoughts on labor?
What do you think were the factors
that led Rizal to write a poem about
“labor”?
2. What was his injunction(s) and
advice on the youth during his time?
Would you say that his advice is still
 practical and applicable to the young
people today?
3. What can the muse offer to the poet?
For you, who is your muse today?
4. What does Rizal envision about the
human labor in the first poem?